The technique of pounding meat to make it more tender has probably been known as long as man has prepared meat for food. Today, in most restaurants and many homes, various cuts of meat are pounded by a meat tenderizer of one of several designs. Some meat tenderizers have multiple faces so the user can select the one best suited to a particular cut of meat, type of meat, or the dish being prepared. Other designs of meat tenderizer may have only one or two faces.
An examination of the prior art of meat tenderizers reveals a design patent for a meat hammer having three faces, one flat and the other two having different textures that are common to this type of utensil. (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 347,367)
In a patent issued in 1898 Gwinner teaches a combined meat saw and tenderizer having two changeable tenderizing blades in addition to the saw. The blades are curved and can be rocked back and forth over the meat. (U.S. Pat. No. 608,455) In U.S. Pat. No. 1,996,949 Bosworth et al. describes a meat tenderizer having two different heads, one consisting of knife blades oriented at different angles for cubing, and the other having the more common raised points for tenderizing. A similar device is taught by Elliott in U.S. Pat. No. 2,184,450. Elliott's bladed surface also has a spring loaded stripper plate to scrape bits of meat from the blades after use. Frank, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,005, discloses a vertical spring loaded chopping device that also has a tenderizing element.
A hammer having a series of interchangeable heads and tails is taught by Williams in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,575. One of the choices for the hammer head is a meat tenderizing head.
Though many of the prior art devices have interchangeable heads or multiple pounding surfaces, none of these are disposable. The interchangeable heads can be removed and cleaned and the multiple surfaces can be cleaned, but all are an integral part of the device being used. The degree of cleaning achieved is dependent upon the person doing the cleaning as well as the configuration of the device itself.
In recent years the instances of contaminated meats and other foods have been increasing at a frightening rate. Though restaurants make every effort to maintain clean food preparation surfaces and utensils, bacteria may be present in purchased foods and using the same utensil for the preparation of one dish and then for another can easily spread contamination. Even if a utensil such as a meat tenderizer is constantly being washed, the many deep grooves and textures make it very difficult to remove all food particles. The busier the food preparation center the greater the chances of cross contamination and the less chance of having a utensil washed, or thoroughly washed, after every use. A meat tenderizer with its highly textured surfaces can be a very real source of contamination.
There is a need for a meat tenderizer, having disposable face plates that can be used once and then discarded. There is a need for a meat tenderizer having disposable face plates with a selection of different tenderizing surfaces to cover all possible food preparation requirements. There is a need for meat tenderizers of different configurations and designs to meet the physical requirements of different users, all having disposable face plates that are discarded after a single use.